SportsLine model unveils 2026 Fantasy football top picks
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- Josh Allen tops the model's 2026 Fantasy football QB rankings after finishing first or second at the position in each of the last six years, despite 2025 marking his fewest passing yards (3,668) and just 25 passing TDs over that stretch.
- Bijan Robinson is the model's RB1 after leading all running backs in receptions (79) and receiving yards (820) while ranking fourth in the NFL with 1,478 rushing yards on just one more touch than his 2024 total.
- Puka Nacua leads the WR rankings after his 107.2 receiving yards per game paced the NFL in 2025 — a 95.3-YPG career average the model flags as the highest in NFL history, with zero fantasy duds across his other 15 games played.
- Dak Prescott ranks third among QBs in the model, ahead of both Jayden Daniels and Drake Maye who are typically drafted before him, with George Pickens and CeeDee Lamb cited as the supporting duo that makes him a middle-round value.
- Trey McBride holds the model's TE1 spot, with stark splits: 8.1 catches for 80.3 yards and 10 total TDs in 12 games with Jacoby Brissett throwing, versus 5.8 catches for 55 yards and just one TD in five games with Kyler Murray.
- The model cites a track record of past calls including correctly predicting Daniel Jones' 2025 surge in Indianapolis, Terry McLaurin's down year, Tetairoa McMillan's breakout, De'Von Achane's rise to elite RB status, and C.J. Stroud's 2024 regression.
Why it matters: Fantasy drafters preparing for 2026 now have a model-based counterweight to ADP at every position, with the most consequential disagreements at QB (Prescott over Daniels and Maye) and TE (McBride heavily dependent on which Cardinals quarterback starts). The model's history of correctly flagging breakouts (Achane, McMillan) and busts (Stroud, McLaurin) gives drafters a benchmark for weighing its sleepers, breakouts, and busts against consensus rankings.
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